I woke up feeling refreshed and jumped in the shower, it was a good thing I did too because 10 minutes after I had finished the power went! No electricity and no new hot water! I am very glad I avoided a cold shower in the dark!
Anyway went to breakfast and was told by Matthew that we would be leaving in 45 minutes time. That is ok but as far as we were aware we had the morning off to prepare for school and everyone was still in bed! Not only that but Matthew told me I needed to give a speech to the Xining Educational Bureau!! So after waking everyone up, fixing the washing machine (Will the witless wonder had broken it) and making sure I had everything for my lesson, I started writing my speech.
Before I knew it we were on the way to one of the middle schools (I have given up trying to remember which number they are) so we could 'give Cecilia away' (talk about being married to the job!). The speech went pretty well though.
Next we walked around the famous mound in the centre of Xining, it was used by generals in the past to scout the city. Although now it is dwarfed by the surrounding sky scrapers! We played with the ball that I had for my lesson but some burst it (cough cough Michael), needed to think quickly about a replacement!
Lunch was fried dumplings, I LOVE DUMPLINGS. Oh and we found what we think is an expat bar called Ten O'Clock Beer Bar!
Anyway after lunch Michael, Cecilia, Siz and Will left Deena, Alex and I. It was time to go to school! My school for today was Bei Dajie Primary and to say I was nervous is an understatement! We were all so nervous we HAD to sing 'Hakuna Matata'! We arrived at the meeting point and Alex was whisked off to her school.
Soon a very scary lady called Lisa came to claim me. We walked from the meeting point to the school via an underground mall. The mall was amazing! It went on for what seemed like forever and we had no idea it was there!
I got the school and walked in to the classroom! It was a computer room... Not the best of rooms to use but oh well! I am glad I recognised some of the kids though! Most had English names already but I gave out the following names: Emma, Harry, Sara and Michael! - All based on real people...
The lesson was a get to know you lesson and it went ok... The kids' English was very good so the lesson was too simple for them but it is always good to practice it in naturalistic scenarios. They loved the games I played with them which is good. However they didn't grasp the idea of alphabetical order. We had show and tell (they had all brought pictures from home), it was really nice to see their photos. I shared a painting Ella had done for me as a going away present, they thought it was really beautiful! I even taught them the YMCA dance! Sadly my culture corner was a catastrophic flop! Culture is very difficult to teach to primary school students. I also ran out of activities with about half an hour to go... Not good!
So I left yesterday's lesson with mixed feelings and needing to reevaluate my lesson plan! I met up with Alex and Deena; Alex's lesson had gone really well, while Deena's wasn't happy with it at all.
We eventually made it home and I reevaluated my culture corner while drinking a vodka and coke (it was GLORIOUS).
This morning we were greeted by yet another power cut... YAY. Still got a hot shower though, even if it was in the dark! The morning was spent chilling out and playing cards.
Time for lesson number 2! Today was Xi Guanjie Primary School. I was less nervous today knowing what to expect and I was prepared with a revamped lesson plan. I got picked up by a lovely lady called Erin. We walked to the school. I was greeted by some of the most excited children I have ever met! One of them even ran and hugged me!
Despite some technical difficulties the lesson went brilliantly! Language and games went down well and the culture was much better! I showed them a video of the Queen and James Bond from the Olympic Opening Ceremony and they loved it! The 'show and tell' activity didn't go as well today, namely because the teacher had obvious translated it as 'bring in presents for the teacher'! So I am now the proud owner of various items including a music box, a giraffe puppet and a cross stitch of a bunny rabbit! It was very embarrassing as I didn't have anything for them and some of the things they gave me were very special.
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| My Presents! |
In a great mood after today's lesson and looking forward to tomorrow's lesson!
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